Chinese character 骤

骤 means “sudden” or “rapid” in modern Chinese.

The Book of Songs, an early Chinese poetry collection, includes the phrase 载骤骎骎, where 骤 describes horses moving briskly. The early character dictionary Shuowen Jiezi defines its older sense as a horse's fast gait: the horse component marks the meaning, and 聚 hints at pronunciation.

Later classical use extended the character to rapid action, sudden change, and repetition. Modern compounds preserve different branches of that history.

Why does 骤 mean “steps” in 步骤?

步骤 is a fixed Chinese word meaning “steps” or “procedure.” That noun meaning belongs to the whole word. In 骤然, 骤变, and 骤雨, 骤 instead contributes suddenness or speed. Read the complete word before choosing an English gloss.

Why do I see 驟 instead?

驟 is the traditional-form counterpart of 骤.

The distinction follows the script convention: simplified text uses 骤, and traditional text uses 驟. If one form seems out of place, check whether the surrounding text uses simplified or traditional characters before treating it as an error.